The Kyrgyz Republic has limited arable land but extensive pasture resources. Herding is the main source of livelihood for much of the rural population, which comprises two thirds of the overall population. A key problem for pasture management is the fragmentation of administrative control over pastures.

The principal objective of this project is to improve the institutional and infrastructure environment for farmers and herders, with a strong emphasis on the livestock sector. The aims are to increase the productivity of farmers, particularly livestock farmers, and reduce animal diseases that have an impact on public health, such as brucellosis.

IFAD will provide grant financing to support the project, which will work towards:

• development and adoption of an adeguate legal and institutional framework for governing the management and use of pastures
• development and operation of a market-oriented rural advisory system
• technical assistance for establishment of a framework for delivery of veterinary services

The project will cover 475 rural communities, targeting the communities’ poorer members, specifically livestock and crop farmers, herders and other poor people who use pastures. The new project features a participatory and community-based targeting approach, with a focus on the needs and interests of women, youth and poor and vulnerable households, to ensure that they have a voice in decision-making, and access to the project’s benefits.

The project includes some innovative features. It will help institute a community-based system consolidating pasture management at village level and directly involving users of the pastures. It will promote private veterinary services, which have played a marginal role up to the present. And to back up these efforts it will support legal and regulatory reforms in pasture management and veterinary services. The project will also contribute to public health through a demonstration programme for brucellosis control in the Naryn region.

Source: IFAD